Democrat Tom Udall raises $1M for Senate race

SANTA FE >> Democratic incumbent Tom Udall holds a large fundraising advantage over two Republican challengers in the race for New Mexico's U.S. Senate seat.

According to the latest Federal Election Commission reports, Udall's campaign had cash-on-hand of $3.1 million at the end of March.

Former state GOP chairman Allen Weh had a cash balance of $205,569, and Las Cruces attorney David Clements reported a campaign balance of $7,497.

In 2008, Udall spent about $7.8 million in winning the Senate seat in a hotly contested race against Republican Steve Pearce. Both were U.S. House members at the time.

During the first three months of this year, Udall raised about $1 million and spent $262,077.

Udall's top donors included leadership political action committees affiliated with other Democratic senators — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Warner of Virginia. Each of their PACs gave $5,000.

Udall is unopposed in the June 3 Democratic primary.

Weh, a retired Marine colonel who owns an aviation company in Albuquerque, raised $413,966, including personal loans and contributions of $160,300. His campaign spent $208,396.

Clements raised $40,579 and spent $44,968 from January through March. His top donors included Las Cruces business owner Randy McMillan, $3,900, and the American Gun Culture Club of Las Cruces, $1,000.

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In races for the state's three House seats, Republican incumbent Steve Pearce in the 2nd Congressional District has the largest campaign account. He reported a cash balance of nearly $1.4 million.

Pearce's top contributors included financial industry political action committees, which gave about $59,000. Included was $3,500 from the PAC of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Labor union PACs gave $31,000 to Lara, and $10,000 came from a PAC affiliated with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat.

In the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Michelle Lujan Grisham had cash-on-hand of $842,491. She has two GOP challengers. Retired Army officer Richard Priem reported a campaign account balance of $40,690 and Corrales business owner Michael Frese had $27,456.

Grisham raised $234,985, including about $30,000 from health-care industry PACs. Frese had total receipts of $51,795, including personal loans of $30,000. Priem is mostly self-financing his campaign. He collected $100 in contributions in the past quarter, and his campaign's cash balance stems from a $100,000 personal loan made in December.

Grisham's campaign spent $74,328 compared with $37,758 by Frese and $48,310 by Priem.

In the 3rd District of northern New Mexico, Democratic incumbent Ben Ray Lujan reported a campaign cash balance of $589,545. Democratic challenger Robert Blanch wasn't required to file a finance report with the FEC during the quarter because he hadn't raised and spent $5,000. Republican Jefferson Byrd had a cash balance of $3,445.

Lujan raised $138,703, including $12,800 from Indian tribes in New Mexico and other states. Byrd had receipts of $4,332, with the candidate accounting for $3,222 of the total. Lujan's campaign spent $65,033 compared with $1,665 by Byrd.